Solana mainnet
Double your BUX! Play Now →
8 min read · Apr 03, 2024

Empowering Decentralization: Interview with SafeDAO

The proposal to unlock token transferability marks a monumental milestone for SafeDAO, symbolizing a pivotal stride towards achieving a fully decentralized governance model.

B
Blockster
Share
Empowering Decentralization: Interview with SafeDAO

The proposal to unlock token transferability marks a monumental milestone for SafeDAO, symbolizing a pivotal stride towards achieving a fully decentralized governance model.

The collaborative effort behind the proposal, co-authored by prominent entities like Kollektivo Labs and Gnosis Guild, reflects the essence of SafeDAO's ethos: collective evolution. This collaborative spirit exemplifies the inclusive nature of SafeDAO's community-driven approach, where diverse perspectives converge to chart the platform's course. 

Against the backdrop of the crypto winter's challenges, the Safe community celebrates remarkable achievements in smart accounts created, monthly active users, and stored asset volume. This resilience underscores the community's potential for growth and innovation. With the proposal poised to unlock further opportunities, SafeDAO stands ready to embark on a new chapter, guided by its commitment to decentralized governance and community-driven decision-making processes.

With anticipation building and the community actively engaged in discussions, let's delve into the significance of this proposal with insights from the SafeDAO team.

Q: Congratulations on reaching this significant milestone with the proposal to unlock token transferability for the SAFE token. Can you walk us through the journey leading up to this point and the key milestones achieved along the way?

A: From the outset, extensive community dialogue has shaped the SAFE token journey. After the initial launch, a SafeDAO vote in the fall of 2022 determined that transferability would be delayed to allow for the project's secure development and to protect the interests of all stakeholders.

The SafeDAO community collaborated on a roadmap with five distinct milestones which covered areas from governance processes to resource allocation, to ensure that each area was fully mature before making this significant step. That has led us to this moment in which the SafeDAO is currently voting on the token transferability proposal.

Q: The proposal to unlock token transferability marks a crucial step towards achieving a fully decentralized governance model for Safe. How do you envision this move impacting the governance structure and decision-making processes within the SafeDAO community?

Progressive decentralization remains a key principle for the SafeDAO community and the roadmap to token transferability underscores the commitment to democratic governance, ensuring that the community had the time to shape its governance role before a major shift like token transferability was initiated. This phased approach isn’t dictated by market trends and instead provides for robust governance, resource allocation, and token utility. 

It is important to note that SafeDAO’s governance structure allows for a range of participation mechanisms, even within the current non-transferable token model. 

"Throughout this process, SafeDAO members have been empowered to submit proposals, and token holders can delegate their voting powers to others, allowing non-token holders to actively shape SafeDAO governance."



SafeDAO

The decision-making process for token transferability has established a model for upcoming milestones and an objective-driven iterative approach in the SafeDAO community, with the key learning that community-driven development should remain at the core of any decision-making.

Q: Co-authored by multiple prominent entities including Kollektivo Labs, Gnosis Guild, Tally, and others, the proposal reflects a collaborative effort. Can you elaborate on the significance of such collaboration in driving the evolution of SafeDAO?

Collaboration has been core to all of the success achieved by Safe to date and each member of the SafeDAO community is empowered and encouraged to take an active role in shaping the future of SafeDAO by adding their unique perspective when submitting governance proposals, commenting, and voting.

The community thrives when more members are engaged in this process. This collaboration was evident in the proposals and community roadmap toward token transferability and will be equally central to future developments after token transferability.

Q: With the proposal now open for community discussion, what are the main points of consideration that community members should keep in mind as they engage in this discourse?

As we are entering the voting stage, first and foremost, this is a democratic process and DAO members are empowered to voice their opinions or concerns on the proposal during the discussion period. 

It is worth keeping in mind what the Safe community has achieved through this phased approach. Even during the challenges of the crypto winter, Safe has seen remarkable progress on multiple fronts in this period, with an 11x increase in Safe smart accounts created, a 22x jump in monthly active users, over 200 projects integrated with Safes, and more than $100Bn worth of assets stored on Safe smart accounts. 

Given these achievements, Safe has laid strong foundations for having a transferable token to further grow SafeDAO.

Q: Looking ahead, what are the expected timelines and next steps following the community discussion phase, and how will the voting process unfold?

Currently, the DAO is discussing the proposal to Unpause SAFE Token Contract (Enabling Transferability). The next steps are: April 3 to April 15 - Community voting and if successful, Token transferability could happen as early as 23 April.

Q: Despite the challenges posed by the crypto winter, Safe has seen remarkable growth in various metrics, including safes created, monthly active users, and transaction volume. What do you attribute this growth to, and how does it reflect on the broader adoption of smart accounts?

Now is a pivotal time for the crypto industry. With the crypto winter behind us, the prospect of mainstream adoption is once again here, but in order to grasp that opportunity, self-custody infrastructure needs to be able to compete with fintech and traditional banking platforms, and existing platforms are not yet at the level of mainstream services.

"What can be seen with the growth of Safe is widespread agreement that smart account adoption is vital to ensuring the long-term growth and survival of the crypto industry."


SafeDAO

The features enabled by smart accounts – account recovery, email login, multisignature (multiple key/user) accounts – all reduce the barriers to taking on digital ownership and unlock new use cases and business models in the Web3 space and beyond.

As industry veterans and proponents of simplifying self-custody, the Safe team has been dedicated to improving user experience in this space for years and this continues to be our focus. It has been reassuring to see this message resonate with our users and builders.

Q: Safe's market share has been rapidly increasing, reaching 1.4% of all crypto transactions. What factors do you believe have contributed to this surge in market share, and what implications does it have for Safe's future trajectory?

Our team has long recognized the issue of scaling self-custody infrastructure. The majority of tools available cater to individual needs, with a significant burden of asset management on the user. Having pioneered the multi-signature wallet which revolutionized self-custody for DAOs and other decentralized organizations, Safe has continued to progress and build infrastructure that can address a broad range of preferences and use cases, expanding its focus to cater to business and institutional needs.

For example, with the launch of Safe{RecoveryHub}, in partnership with Sygnum Bank and CoinCover, Safe has introduced an account recovery marketplace, where Safe{Wallet} users can select an account recovery solution compatible with their unique preferences, from fully self-custodial to third-party supported options. 

"It was really important for us to build something that addresses the different needs of individuals, groups, and businesses, providing a more tailored approach to self-custody."



SafeDAO

In addition to this, Safe has recently appointed Julian Grigo as Head of Institutions and Fintech, whose traditional finance experience will support Safe’s mission to meet the burgeoning needs of institutions navigating the complexities of digital assets during this exciting time in the space.

Q: Finally, as Safe continues to expand its influence and user base, what are the key priorities and goals that the team is focusing on to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the platform?

Since the early stages of this project, the mission has been to expand the potential of digital ownership through improved user experience, high-security standards, and better operational efficiency. With the initial goal of breaking down barriers for individual users, the Safe team unlocked innovative tools like multi-signature (multisig) wallets that now support larger organizations like DAOs. 

As Safe tooling has advanced, introducing new features like account recovery and social login, smart account technology now has the potential to meet the demands of larger organizations and institutions. Throughout this journey, Safe has pushed the boundaries of what self-custody can enable, and we continue to reimagine what this space can look like for future generations of users. 

About Safe

Safe (previously Gnosis Safe) is an onchain asset custody protocol establishing a universal ‘smart account' standard for secure custody of digital assets, data, and identity. With Safe{Wallet}, its flagship web and mobile wallet and Safe{Core} account abstraction infrastructure, Safe is on a mission to unlock digital ownership for everyone in Web3, including DAOs, enterprises, retail and institutional users.